Cancelled too soon
Science fiction fans are famous for fighting to save their favourite shows. FIREFLY, a space western about the crew of a small cargo ship, was cancelled in 2002 after only eleven episodes had been shown, some of them out of order. Its fans campaigned so hard, and bought so many copies of the complete series, that the studio made a film, Serenity, in 2005 to finish the story. FARSCAPE, whose alien characters were created by the Jim Henson company, famous for the Muppets, was cancelled on a cliffhanger and later given a mini-series to wrap up its story.
Shows that ran and ran
Other shows went on for years. STARGATE SG-1 ran for ten series, and The X FILES, about two American government agents investigating the unexplained under the slogan the truth is out there, began in 1993 and returned for new series more than twenty years later.
Plans for five years
Most television series are written a season at a time, not knowing whether they will be renewed. BABYLON 5, set on a space station in the 2250s, was planned from the start as a single story lasting five series, with clues in early episodes paying off years later, an approach that was unusual in the 1990s and is common now. QUANTUM LEAP, from 1989, followed a scientist bouncing through time into other people's lives, one episode at a time. LOST, from 2004, left viewers puzzling over its mysteries for six years.
Many recent shows adapt famous books and games. FOUNDATION is based on Isaac Asimov's novels from the 1940s and 1950s, THE EXPANSE on a series of novels, and FALLOUT on a series of video games set after a nuclear war. ANDOR is set in the Star Wars galaxy, and DARK, a German show about time travel in a small town, was one of the first big streaming hits not made in English.
Real science and real generals
Some science fiction shows take great care over their science. THE EXPANSE was praised by scientists and astronauts for showing space travel realistically: there is no artificial gravity unless a ship is accelerating or spinning, crews strap into special seats to survive hard acceleration, and battles happen in silence, because sound cannot travel through space. STARGATE SG-1 worked closely with the United States Air Force, which let it film at real bases, and two of the Air Force's most senior generals even appeared in episodes playing themselves.
Some shows go the other way and make their science deliberately fantastic. Time machines, faster-than-light travel and beaming people from place to place break the laws of physics as far as anyone knows, but they make for good stories, and a few science fiction ideas, from pocket communicators to video calls, did eventually come true.
Imagined futures
Science fiction on television often reflects the worries of its time. BLACK MIRROR, a British show from 2011, tells separate stories about how technology might go wrong, and WESTWORLD imagines a theme park full of lifelike robots. BATTLESTAR Galactica, EUREKA, ANDROMEDA, The ORVILLE, FRINGE and SEVERANCE complete the grid, and STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO have pages of their own: our Star Trek and Doctor Who pages cover two of the longest-running shows in television history. Several of these shows are made for adults, so check before a younger fan starts watching.